A teenager has been jailed for eight years for accidentally shooting his best friend near riots in Birmingham.

Dowaine Maye, 19, from Melbourne Avenue, Newtown, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Aaron James, 18, who died last October.

Mr James was shot in the head as the pair ran away from police after disturbances in the area of Lozells.

Birmingham Crown Court had heard Maye denied murder and possession of a handgun with intent to endanger life.

The prosecution accepted his pleas at a previous hearing.

Mr James died after being shot in the early hours of 24 October in Melbourne Avenue, under a mile (1.6km) from Lozells where rioting had begun two days earlier.

Dowaine Maye stumbled into him as the pair ran and accidentally fired the reactivated semi-automatic handgun he was holding.

Missing gun

Gordon James, father of the dead man, said in a statement: "I'm pleased Dowaine came forward and admitted what he did but I'm still disappointed that he has never told the police where the gun was.

In one sense, this was an absolutely freak event

Timothy Raggatt QC

"The gun is still out there and has got the potential to be used again to harm."

Mr James said he "amazed and disappointed" that people who were with his son after the shooting him left to die.

Mr James was left lying injured on the ground by his friend and given first aid by police.

Timothy Raggatt QC, prosecuting, said there was no suggestion Maye intended to harm Mr James but that he had either been aware of, or was positively reckless towards, whether the semi-automatic gun was loaded or not.

He said an eyewitness to the shooting recalled the defendant being shocked and confused and saying he thought the safety catch was on in the moments after the gun was fired.

Mr Raggatt said: "The strong inference from the physical evidence is that the accused almost certainly bumped into his friend, the gun almost certainly was not on safety, if it had one.

"The effect of the collision was to cause trigger pressure on the finger and the prosecution accept an involuntary act caused the gun to fire. In one sense, this was an absolutely freak event."